The Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating into the Treasury Bond issue, Justice K. T. Chitrasiri yesterday said that the PCoI will take the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime in to consideration when making an order regarding Arjun Mahendran’s request that a representative of his be allowed to be present when data is derived from his mobile phone by the CID.
Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to be invited to join the Budapest Cybercrime Convention, in February 2015.
The Budapest Cybercrime Convention, which is also known as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, is reportedly the only available international treaty on the subject of Cybercrime.
Sri Lanka has modeled its Computer Crimes Act (2007) according to the Budapest Cybercrime Convention.
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda told the PCoI that the Attorney General is objecting to the application made by Mahendran based on international practices followed by the US Justice Department and UK Metropolitan Police when a digital forensic examination is conducted.
Mahendran’s lawyer Chanaka de Silva told the PCoI that he will provide best practices that argue otherwise to what the AG is basing their objection on.
The Treasury Bond Commission issued an order to former Governor of the Central Bank Arjun Mahendran to handover all his digital communication devices to the Criminal Investigation Department, on July 26, 2017. Subsequently to the order, Mahendran handed over his digital communication devices on the same day evening. The surrendered devices are currently kept under seal.
Mahendran’s lawyer Chanaka de Silva sought permission from the PCoI, on July 28, 2017 to allow a representative be present when data is derived from Mahendran’s mobile phone for the forensic digital examination.